150 PHYSIOLOGY OF TASTE. 



as eatables are greedily sought after. A young lady was under the 

 care of the author, whose bonne louche was slate pencils. In other 

 cases, we find chalk, brickdust, ashes, dirt, &c., preferred. Habit, too, 

 has considerable effect in our decisions regarding the agreeable. The 

 Roman liquamen or garum, the most celebrated sauce of antiquity, was 

 prepared from half putrid intestines of fish ; and one of the varieties 

 of the Ortoj 2a<j>iov, laserpitium, is supposed to have been assafoetida. 1 

 Even at this day, certain orientals are fond of the flavour of this nauseous 

 substance. Putrid meat is the delight of some nations ; and a rotten egg, 

 especially if accompanied with the chick, is esteemed by the Siamese. 

 In civilized countries, we find game, in a putrescent state, eaten as a 

 luxury : this, to those unaccustomed to it, requires a true education. The 

 same may be said of the pickled olive, and of several cheeses -fromage 

 de Gruyere, for example so much esteemed by the inhabitants of con- 

 tinental Europe. 



M. Magendie 2 asserts, that the distinction of savours into agreeable 

 and disagreeable is the most important, as substances whose taste ap- 

 pears agreeable to us are generally useful ; whilst those whose taste is 

 disagreeable are commonly noxious. As a general rule this is true, 

 but there are many signal exceptions to it. 



3. PHYSIOLOGY OF TASTE. 



The physiology of taste being so nearly allied to that of touch 

 effected by mucous membranes, it will not be necessary to repeat the 

 uses of the various layers of which the membrane of the mouth 

 consists. In order that taste may be satisfactorily executed, it is 

 necessary that the membrane should be in a state of integrity ; for if 

 the cuticle be removed,' gustation is not effected; and the morbid sen- 

 sation of pain is substituted. It is also indispensable that the fluids 

 poured into the cavity of the mouth should be in necessary quantity, 

 and possess proper physical characteristics. We can farther appreciate 

 the advantages of mastication and insalivation, by which solid bodies 

 are divided into minute portions; dissolved when soluble, and brought 

 successively in contact with the organ of taste. The gustatory nerves 

 thus receive the impression, and by them it is transmitted to the 

 brain. These nerves go to the formation of the papillae, which, we have 

 seen, are situate in a spongy, erectile tissue. As in the sense of 

 tact and touch, it is probable that this erectile tissue is not passive 

 during the exercise of taste ; and that the papillae, through it, assume 

 a kind of erection. M. Magendie 3 believes this view to be void of founda- 

 tion ; but Sir C. Bell 4 has properly remarked, that if we take a pencil, 

 dip it in a little vinegar ; and touch, or even rub it strongly on the sur- 

 face of the tongue, where these papillae do not exist, the sensation of 

 the presence of a cold liquid is alone experienced; but if we touch one 

 of the papillae with the point of the brush, and, at the same time, use 

 a magnifying glass, it is seen to stand erect, and the acid taste is felt 

 to pass, as it were backward, to the root of the tongue. This experi- 



1 See an article on the Gastronomy of the Romans, by the author, in Amer. Quarterly 

 Review, ii. 422, Philad., 1827. 



9 Precis Elementaire, i. 139. 3 Precis, &c., i. 141. 



4 Anatomy and Physiol., Godmanjs 5th Amer. edit., ii. 283, New York, 1827. 



